Reconciliation Week

This week we have celebrated Reconciliation Week with each class participating in a variety of activities and stories to immerse them in Aborigina and Torres Strait Islander culture. It was also fitting this week that the nominations for the Spirit of Cathoic Education Awards were announced this week with our very own Indigenous Education teacher, Lizzy Christie being nominated for showing outstanding integrity in leading a school program. Lizzy was also nominated for the Aunty Joan Hendrix Awards too which recognises someone for creating positive change for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students and/ or for developing improved understanding of indigenous cultural heritage in Catholic Education. We look forward to celebrating this with our community in Catholic Education Week.

For the last few days I have been at Principal Meetings. As part of our prayer this morning we engaged with this Uluru Statement of the Heart (song by Midnight Oil). I encourage you to watch it as it is a beautiful message with beautiful artistic imagery throughout.

Tasmanian Principal Visit

Next week we will welcome Luch Brighella, Principal at Sacred Heart Catholic School, Geeveston in Tasmania to our school. He has taken leave from his school to explore sustainability practices in catholic schools across the country. He is visiting one school from each diocese. We are very excited to engage with another like-minded school community to continue our learning in this area.

Well done to our Year 5 /6 Coding Club students who won the inaugural Robotics Sumo Challenge between St Anthony’s Catholic College and St Clare’s Cathoic school.

Please also take the time to complete the School feedback surveys that have been sent out to our community in the last few weeks. Your feedback is really important in helping us prioritise areas for improvement and to ensure we know where we are successful

Have a fabulous week. 

Cheers

Penny

Welcome to the end of Week 7! Our Year 2 Lorikeets lead us in assembly today on the theme of the Feast of Mary Help of Christians who is the patroness of Australia.  In their prayer, they asked for Mary’s special help and guidance so that we may remember and appreciate what a wonderful country we live in.  They also prayed for us to be grateful people who genuinely value the great gifts that our country gives us.

It has been wonderful each week to see classes presenting on a different element of our ‘Way of Peace’.  I feel as though this is becoming a much more common language around the school and in how we operate.  It was great to see the Lorikeets explaining how they have been ENGAGED in their learning and how they have been working on improving their writing.  Our ‘Way of Peace’ certainly encompasses all areas of our students' lives at school.

Reconciliation Week Colouring In Competition Winners

It was great to see LOTS of entries into the Reconciliation Week colouring in competition - so much so that our judges decided they couldn’t only give out 1st place, so created prizes for 2nd and 3rd as well.  Congratulations to the students below who placed:

Prep/ 1: 1st Oliver  C(1W) 2nd Cienna L (1W) 3rd Elodie J (PW)

Yr 2/3:   1st Harper E (2C) 2nd Adelaide W (3G) 3rd Kyanna M (2L)

Yr 4/5/6: 1st Isabella H (4B) 2nd Lachlan M (4G) 3rd Zahra D (5/6 D)

Our winning posters plus other entries will be displayed around the school over the next few weeks.

Pax

Nick

As we move towards the end of term, and the middle of the year, it is a great time to revisit the expectations in place at school and the strategies we use to achieve these expectations.  Our school Levels of Consequence are aligned to our Zones of Regulation.  We aim to teach students that we all experience a range of emotions and we identify these as belonging to the Green, Yellow, Orange and Red Zones.  Each of us are also in control of the behavioural choices we make whilst in these zones.  These choices have consequences, which can be positive when making good choices, or negative, such as if you make an unacceptable behaviour choice.  Being in the Red Zone is not an excuse for a poor behaviour choice.  Students are supported to learn how to make positive choices when in each zone to help them regulate their behaviours - this is supported through our Sensory Toolbox’s and associated school wide language.  Have you chatted with your child about the school expectations and the strategies they use?

P&F News

This week we hosted our very first Online P&F Meeting.  Thanks to all those who were able to attend in person and online.  The discussions were rich and full, with great input and feedback received.  We look forward to having lots of families join with us for the Term 3 meeting on 19th July at 7pm.  We will test out the meeting using Zoom and compare the FB Live and Zoom platforms for the best one to use moving forward.

We are looking for some volunteers to cook a snag or two between 11.30- 12.30pm for the EcoFest.

If you can assist please let the parent coordinators - Renee Neville or Tam McDonald know or email Mrs Baumann - rbaumann@stbenedicts.catholic.edu.au

Look out for the FB Post also if that's an easier place to comment.  Even 10 minutes of time is appreciated.

https://townsvilletickets.com.au/event/st-benedicts-black-limited-edition-thermomix-15974

Send your child to school ready to learn  (Kidshealth.org)

The connection between home and school is key to helping kids do well academically and socially. Here are simple ways you can support your child to have the best day possible. 

• Sleep & Routine - Kids need the right amount of sleep to be alert and ready to learn all day. Most school-age kids need 10 to 12 hours of sleep at night. Lack of sleep can cause hyperactive behaviour and might make it hard for kids to pay attention in class. It’s important to have a consistent bedtime routine, especially on school nights. 

• A nutritious breakfast fuels up kids and gets them ready to learn! If your child is running late some mornings (it happens!), send along fresh fruit, nuts, yoghurt, or half a peanut butter and banana sandwich to eat in the car/before school. 

• Send a Healthy Brain Break! Every class has brain break in the morning during the 1st session. Ensure you send an extra piece of fruit or vegetable for brain break. 

• Pack a healthy lunch.  The basics of a healthy lunch is a sandwich, a piece of fruit (and an extra for brain break), vegetables, either yogurt or cheese, and you may like to pack a small special treat now and again). Click here for more ideas and information about packing a healthy lunch.  It is very important to limit the amount of packaged foods in your child’s lunch box as these usually have high amounts of sugar and preservatives. 
  
  

Good Afternoon